Dog who helped in Kerala landslide rescue ops finds new home

Koovi had assisted the NDRF team deployed at the Rajamala landslide site in recovering the body of a 2-year-old.

A dog, who helped in rescue operations at the landslide site in Kerala’s Idukki, has found a new home after the family that raised him died in the disaster earlier this month.

The family that raised Koovi died in Rajamala landslide earlier this month. (ANI Photo)

A civil police officer Ajith Madhavan, who is also a trainer of police dog squad, has adopted Koovi. The dog had assisted the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) team deployed at the Rajamala landslide site in recovering the body of a two-year-old.

The landslides triggered by heavy rainfall on August 7 have claimed at least 65 lives so far, according to news agency ANI. Three bodies were recovered on Thursday during a search operation using a radar system.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has assured help to the next of kin of the landslide victims. “We will build houses for them. The Kannan Devan Hill Plantation Limited, where they are working, has also promised to help,” said the CM adding the government will improve infrastructure in the area.

Apart from the landslide in the southern state, heavy rains led to floods in a number of regions including Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Meghalaya in July; Mumbai, Konkan and Karnataka in the first week of August; and flash floods in parts of Rajasthan on August 15.

According to a flood situation report dated August 12 by the ministry of home affairs’ disaster management division, 868 people have lost their lives to floods in 11 states, compared with 908 deaths in the same period last year.